Leaders of the nonprofit Music Hall Revitalization Co.
seemed to have compromised last week when the group proposed a 99-year lease of
Music Hall as part of a $165 million renovation. But the lease included a
clause that would allow the group to acquire the historic building for $1 at
the end of the lease or at the end of a second 99-year lease. The permanent
sale of the building is what held up the initial plan to turn the renovation
over to the nonprofit group, which says its donors will not offer the financial
support without the city turning over ownership. Mayor Mark Mallory told The
Enquirer that the proposal will not be approved. “I don’t care if it’s 99 years, 198 years, 500 years or
1,000 years, the city should always retain ownership,” Mallory said. “That
should never change.”

The
George W. Bush Presidential Library denied a request by a Democratic super PAC
for documents related to Sen. Rob Portman’s work in the George W. Bush
administration. The library says it is not subject to the Freedom of
Information Act and that all are welcome to see the documents in 2014. The
super PAC, American Bridge 21st Century, has been researching GOP candidates as
Mitt Romney moves closer to choosing a running mate.

“When
you look at the roster of V.P. candidates, each of them is significantly
flawed,” American Bridge senior adviser Ty Matsdorf said in a statement. “For
Portman, it is his calamitous record on fiscal issues while working at the Bush
White House. It shouldn’t be a shock that he is going to want to keep that
under wraps for as long as possible, but unfortunately it’s pretty hard to hide
a record as terrible as that.”

Facebook has created a new “find friends nearby” function
that will allow users to see friends and people they don’t know who are at
events or social gatherings. From some Facebook engineer’s comments on the
story:

I built Find Friends Nearby with another engineer for a
hackathon project. While it was originally called ‘Friendshake’, we
settled on ‘Find Friends Nearby’ for launch (the URL was a little bit of
a homage to the previous iteration).

For me, the ideal use case for this product is the one
where when you’re out with a group of people whom you’ve recently met
and want to stay in contact with. Facebook search might be effective, or
sharing your vanity addresses or business cards, but this tool provides
a really easy way to exchange contact information with multiple people
with minimal friction.

Some Columbia-Tusculum residents are
upset about the proposed design of new apartment buildings on the
corner of Delta Avenue and Columbia Parkway. The 76-unit Delta Flats'
design was apparently supposed to fit into the nearby business
district, which includes the Precinct restaurant.

HBO and showrunners for its new
medieval show Game of Thrones have apologized for using Bush's head
on a stake in a scene where one of the dudes shows someone a line of
traitors' heads on stakes.

Surgeons replaced a 10-year-old girl's
has blood vessel with one grown with her own stem cells. The vein was
taken from a dead person, stripped of its cells and then coated in
the girls' stem cells. Doctors says there has been a “striking”
improvement in her quality of life, according to the BBC.

A local developer has offered to build a new jail adjacent
to the Justice Center, a cost of $65 million, in return for the county
leasing it for 30 years at $10 million a year, according to The
Enquirer. The developer, Rob Smyjunas, said the offer isn’t about making a profit, just making the county better for his and other families.

Mayor Mallory didn’t answer The Enquirer’s questions about
the potential for a Council majority to block the property tax increase in
City Manager Milton Dohoney’s proposed budget. A Mallory spokesman says he’ll work
behind the scenes on a budget that will win a Council majority and
that he’s off to New Orleans for a conference on reclaiming vacant
properties.

The Sanford, Fla., police chief who drew criticism for not investigating the shooting death of Trayvon Martin has been fired. Sanford
City Manager Norton Bonaparte said he relieved Bill Lee of his duties
because the police chief needs to have the trust and respect of the
community.

A video of middle school kids in upstate New York bullying
a 68-year-old bus monitor has drawn international media attention. The
woman says the kids are all pretty much normal and are OK to deal with
one-on-one.

The bullying continues unabated for about 10 minutes in
the video, reducing Klein to tears as a giggling student jabs her arm
with a book. Recorded by a student Monday with a cell phone camera, the
brazen example of bullying went viral and spurred international outrage.

"Actually, in the '90s it was thought that the climate
change would favor the chinstrap penguin, because this species prefers
sea waters without ice, unlike the Adelie penguin, which prefers the ice
pack," study researcher Andres Barbosa told LiveScience. He added that
at the time, chinstraps, named for the thin black facial line from cheek
to cheek, seemed to increase in numbers, with some new colonies being
established. The sea-ice decline in the winter, however, has become so
big that it is now impacting krill populations, said Barbosa, of the
National Museum of Natural Sciences in Madrid.

A new study has found that eating disorders are common
among older women. Researchers say weight and eating concerns do not
discriminate based on age.

College football BCS commissioners have endorsed a
four-team playoff format to determine college football’s national
champion instead of the current computer-human two-team system. The plan will go to the BCS presidential oversight committee
on June 26 for approval.

The ongoing saga involving Cincinnati
Police Chief James Craig and his nonexistent policing powers will
continue into July, as a hearing scheduled for Thursday has been
continued. Craig's attorneys will argue in front of the Ohio Peace
Officer Training Commission that his prior experience, and
certification in three other states, should exempt him from a state
rule requiring all officers pass a certification exam before earning
police powers. Craig believes he was hired to do things other than
study for an entry-level policing test, and some states would already
have certified him.

A statewide ban on texting while
driving moved through the Ohio House of Representatives yesterday and
is expected to be signed into law by Gov. John Kasich. The law makes
the writing, sending or reading of a text message while driving a
secondary offense, meaning officers may not pull over an adult driver
for the act. Teens, however, under House Bill 99 will be prohibited
from using any electronic device other than GPS and may be pulled
over for it.

Kasich on Tuesday followed through with
the GOP plan to overturn its own controversial election law that was
to go before voters in November. State Republicans and election
officials now say there's no reason for the law to go in front of
voters thanks to the 300,000 signatures gathered by President Obama's
re-election campaign and other opponents, but opponents of the
election law point out that the repeal still reaffirms an election
law change that would end early voting the weekend before an
election. Democrats plan to keep the issue on the ballot.

But people on both sides of the issue
say there's no precedent for a legislative repeal of a bill that also
is the subject of a referendum, so it's unclear how a court might
rule if a legal challenge is filed.

Jennifer Brunner, a former Democratic
secretary of state and a leader in the Fair Elections Ohio campaign
that brought the referendum, said Tuesday that the action taken by
Gov. John Kasich and Legislature doesn't force the removal of the
question from November ballots.

"Since this issue is a case of
first impression for any court, we do not see the statement of the
Secretary of State to be determinative on this issue," Brunner
said in an email. "The issue remains on the ballot."

More drama from Columbus: Republicans
are moving forward with a test program requiring some welfare
recipients to submit to drug testing in order to continue receiving
benefits. Opponents say the process stigmatizes the poor, while the
GOP says it's just a simple process involving poor people paying the
upfront costs for drug tests, being reimbursed if they pass and
living on the streets for six months if they fail.

Northern Kentucky leaders plan to use
the revitalization of Over-the-Rhine as a model for reinvesting in
their urban core. A nonprofit organization has raised $10 million
during the past five years to get started spurring commercial and
residential investment.

Two Kentucky high school students who
were turned away from their senior prom for arriving as a same-sex
couple have argued that if their Catholic high school wants to ban
students based on upholding the church's teachings, such a
ban should include couples who have had premarital sex and kids who
plan to get wasted after the prom.

Apparently viewers of Harry's Law,
which was set in Cincinnati and used a stage-version of Arnold's as
the lawyer gang's regular hangout, are too old to attract advertising
dollars despite their relatively high numbers.

The show ranked very low among viewers
ages 18 to 49, the demographic most advertisers care about. In fact,
its young-adult numbers were beneath those for "Prime Suspect,"
a cop show that NBC canceled earlier this season, and roughly on par
with those of "Off Their Rockers," the Betty White show
about senior citizens pulling pranks on younger people.

"It was a difficult decision,"
an NBC executive said Sunday, quoted by the site Deadline.com.
"Everyone here respects 'Harry's Law' a lot but we were finding
it hard to grow the audience for it. Its audience skewed very old and
it is hard to monetize that."

We don't see much of Bush these days.
He's the president that a lot of people would like to forget, still
so toxic that he's widely considered more likely to hurt than
help the Republican Party by participating in the 2012 campaign.

Bush's speech Tuesday morning was a
rare exception. He spoke in a small, nondescript room to about 200
people about democracy activists, promoting a human rights campaign
that's part of the George W. Bush Presidential Center.

His presence on the national stage is
perhaps best seen in his presence on the small stage at 1777 F
Street. At the end of the affair, Bush and his wife were called back
up to be presented with writings by Czech human rights icon Vaclav
Havel. They posed for pictures as the audience clapped, and when they
were done, Bush glanced around as if unsure what to do next.

He walked back to his seat, but then
quickly walked back onto the stage and behind the lectern. He leaned
forward into the microphone, paused, and said slyly, "Thanks for
coming."

Bill Nye the Science Guy to “debate” Creation Museum founder Ken Ham

Bill Nye the Science Guy and Creation Museum founder Ken Ham will engage in a so-called “debate” tonight over evolution and
biblical creationism, even though the scientific evidence rules out any
possibility of Nye losing on the facts of evolution.

Although the scientific evidence is clear, evolution
remains a contentious conflict in the United States as religious fundamentalists struggle to reconcile their literal interpretations of religious texts with scientific facts.

Since then, the conflict has actually expanded to include anti-science pushback from political and business interests over a wide range of issues. Here are four
leading examples of today’s conflicts as they pit science against everyone else:

Evolution

Evolution is essentially the foundation of modern biology.
It’s overwhelmingly supported by modern scientists. Evidence ranges from centuries of scientific observations
to similarities in life’s genetic and physiological
makeup to fossilized records.

“At the heart of evolutionary theory is the basic idea
that life has existed for billions of years and has changed over time,”
notes UC Berkeley’s evolution explainer. “Overwhelming evidence supports
this fact. Scientists continue to argue about details of evolution, but
the question of whether life has a long history or not was answered in
the affirmative at least two centuries ago.”

In the scientific world, it’s silly to dispute the entire
concept of evolution. Some, like Nye, question how the world can even
make sense to someone without evolution.

“Your world just becomes fantastically complicated when you don’t believe in evolution,” Nye told Big Think.

Expect more arguments along those lines at Tuesday’s “debate,” which will be streamed live here.

To understand global warming, it’s crucial to first differentiate weather and climate. Weather forecasts look at
short-term trends in specific areas, like the current local temperature
and whether stuff is falling out of the sky in Cincinnati. Climate
science looks at huge, long-term trends that span the globe, such as
global temperature trends over decades.

When climate science is viewed through the correct
scientific lens, the results become practically impossible to reasonably
question:

Vaccine safety

The anti-vaccine movement claims vaccines can lead to
extreme complications like autism, asthma or diabetes, but the argument
is backed by no notable scientific evidence.

In its broad analysis of vaccines and their adverse
effects, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) found “few health problems are
caused by or clearly associated with vaccines.” Specifically, the study
ruled out connections between vaccines and autism, asthma and diabetes.

That’s not to say vaccines are without side-effects. In some occasions, IOM found vaccines can cause allergic reactions,
seizures and fainting. But the data did not indicate serious, widespread
problems.

Major scientific groups have extensively studied GMOs
during the decades the technology has been available. The consensus,
from groups including the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, the
American Medical Association and the Royal Society of Medicine, was
clear: Genetically modified foods aren’t any more harmful than
conventional foods.

Even in the extremely anti-GMO Europe, an independent
European Commission report found, “The main conclusion to be drawn from
the efforts of more than 130 research projects, covering a period of
more than 25 years of research, and involving more than 500 independent
research groups, is that biotechnology, and in particular GMOs, are not
per se more risky than e.g. conventional plant breeding technologies.”

In its defense, the anti-GMO movement typically points to a
study that initially claimed to find evidence of tumors in rats that
consumed genetically modified foods. But the scientific journal that
published the study, Food and Chemical Toxicology, actually retracted the findings
after deciding they were “inconclusive, and therefore do not
reach the threshold of publication.”

Given the lack of evidence, it’s easy to understand why scientific organizations around the world seem so aligned against the anti-GMO movement:

Vice Mayor Roxanne Qualls responded to Rep. Steve Chabot’s
Wednesday attempt to block federal funding for Cincinnati’s
streetcar construction by calling it “an outrageous interference in
local government decision-making.” The Enquirer today recapped the
situation, which involves Chabot adding the following amendment to a
massive federal transportation bill: “None of the funds
made available by this Act may be used to design, construct, or operate a
fixed guideway project located in Cincinnati, Ohio.” The amendment has
little chance at being included in the final passage of the bill, as the
Senate and President Obama would both have to approve and sign it.

A parody video of a Western &
Southern PR representative explaining why the insurance company should
build condos at the site of the century-old women’s shelter has earned a
response from W&S. The company’s VP of public relations told The Enquirer: “Whoever
created the video, we think it’s unfortunate that they’ve taken this
approach,” he said. “We think it’s a distraction from finding a win-win
for all involved.” The video is no longer available on YouTube, however,
due to “a copyright claim by Canipre inc.”

Speaking of funny videos, MSNBC posted this video of Rep.
Jean Shmidt apparently reacting to someone incorrectly telling her that
President Obama’s health care law had been struck down. Schmidt can be
seen twisting around and making strange screaming sounds.

Schmidt isn’t the only person to have heard the health
care legislation had been overturned even though it had actually been
upheld, and the world laughed at America’s cable news shows for
struggling to explain the Supreme Court’s decision in the span of 140
characters.

The NBA draft took place Thursday night, and neither local
hopeful heard his name called. UC’s Yancy Gates and Xavier’s Tu
Holloway were seen as potential second-round picks. Both are expect to
have an opportunity to play in the NBA’s summer league or sign
professional contracts to play overseas.

The ever-debated, never implemented property tax increase
will continue to be nonexistent, as will a new police station, playgrounds,
some public pools, Music Hall renovations and certain street repavings and
building demolitions, according to The Enquirer.
Councilwoman Laure Quinlivan will make the deciding vote against City Manager
Milton Dohoney’s proposed tax increase, which would add $46 to the owner of a
$100,000. Also against disproportionately taxing rich people are Councilmen Chris Seelbach, P.G.
Sittenfeld, Christopher Smitherman and Charlie Winburn. Quilivan says
the government isn’t the right size and that the government should make the
tougher changes before asking for more revenue.

Hamilton County has been killing people more often than Ohio counties of similar size, despite actually asking for the death penalty less often. Today'sEnquirer takes a look at the growing opposition to the death
penalty in other states and recent legislation and task forces aimed
at either studying its effectiveness or stopping the practice
altogether. Prosecutor Joe Deters says he's going to kill all the people who deserve it because the law is still the law.

Would you like to pay tolls or higher
gas taxes in order to have a new Brent Spence Bridge? No? Then you're
like a majority of people who take the time to respond to Enquirer polls.

City Manager Milton Dohoney plans to
ask City Council to raise the property tax rate in response to a
projected $33 million 2013 deficit that everyone knows was coming.

So last Thursday Romney held a surprise
press conference at Solyndra's shuttered headquarters. During his
prepared statement, Romney said:

"An independent inspector general
looked at this investment and concluded that the Administration had
steered money to friends and family and campaign contributors."

Romney then repeated the claim later in
the press conference.

Small problem: No inspector
general ever "concluded" such a thing, at least not based
on any written reports or public statements.

Wisconsin Gov./Union Crusher Scott
Walker holds a slight lead over his Democratic challenger, Milwaukee
Mayor Tom Barrett, according to a recent poll.

George Zimmerman is back in jail after
what his attorney is calling a misunderstanding over telling a judge
that he had limited money even though a website set up to fund his
legal defense raised more than $135,000.

Ghiz was described as having a penchant for starting arguments that have been “personal, petty and nasty,” while Winburn's “unpredictable behavior” was noted along with Thomas' problems fully grasping budget and finance issues.